Using an e-newsletter to grow your business – Part 3 of 3

An exciting subject line â€“ your readers are bombarded with emails every day, including other newsletters. Your first goal is to get them to open your newsletter, and your subject line plays an important role. First, make sure that it is obvious that the email came from your business, and is not spam. It is recommended to start the subject line with your company name in brackets, like this: [illuminea]. After that, write the most exciting subject line you can come up with, in as few words as possible. Try not to use more than ten words in your subject, and make sure it tells your reader about the benefits they will get by reading your email. For example, if you sell lighting for offices, consider a subject line such as this one: Study shows worker productivity increases in offices with better lighting. What employer wouldn’t want to read about that?

A personal from line â€“ many email systems will send your campaign from an address like donotreply@goodlighting.com. This is not only impersonal, but is also a turn-off. Don’t reply? What do you mean â€“ you want to be able to send me emails, but I can’t write back? *Delete* Show your readers that you are not a robot, and that not only are you personally sending them a letter, but you also would love to hear back from them. So bob.smith@goodlighting.com will serve your e-newsletter much better.

Professional design â€“ Ok, your reader has opened your newsletter. Now what? If you want to stand out from the crowd, make sure that your newsletter is professional, attractive and user-friendly. This does not mean that you have to use zillions of images and cool graphics â€“ it just means that the design should match your brand, be clean and easy to read. You can see an example of a newsletter we designed here. This template matches the color of the client’s site, uses their logo, and has a tag line that tells the reader what type of information is covered in this newsletter. There is also a table of contents on the side so that the reader can quickly see what is included.

Content, baby, content! â€“ Content is good when it provides the reader with useful information for their own knowledge and use. For example, Good Lighting could publish articles on new innovations in the field of lighting, design trends, and have tips and tricks on how to improve the lighting in your office. Links to related articles that you think your readers might enjoy are also a nice addition to your newsletter. With enough interesting content, you can also allow yourself to publicize your own business by advertising a sale, or offering some sort of promotion. You can have one section with company news, perhaps about new deals that were signed, or new employees.

A concise company description â€“ every e-newsletter must contain a non-intrusive, but informative blurb about your business. Tell your readers who exactly you are, what you do, where you are located and how you can be reached. Tell your readers how important they are, and ask them for their feedback so that they can help you improve your newsletter.

E-newsletters can help you develop your business at a fraction of the cost of conventional print marketing methods. So what are you waiting for â€“ start publishing!

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About illuminea

illuminea is a web presence and marketing firm that focuses on creating effective and engaging websites and web marketing campaigns.illuminea has extensive expertise working with companies, non-profits and individuals in developing and designing the ideal web presence and promotion strategy to achieve the best exposure for their businesses and ideas.